Natural
disasters are perhaps the most frightening phenomenon for human beings, because
humans have no power to prevent them. Every time this happen, many people rise
question: "Is this a punishment from God?"

In
this regard, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, Director of the Islamic Society of Orange
County and former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:

"Indeed Allah is All-Powerful (Al-'Aziz) and He is able to do all things
('ala kull sha'in qadir). The Qur'an has mentioned this hundreds of times. It is
also mentioned in the Qur'an that Allah is the Creator and He is the Best
Creator.

Muslims
have many scriptural imperatives that demand we work for the preservation and
health of our environment. As we enter an era where the prospect of
environmental catastrophe is perhaps greater than the prospect of disaster from
any other source, it is especially important that we make environmental
protection one of our most pressing priorities.

In
a talk I gave at the London School of Economics on Islam and the environment, I
said that when one considers the dismal record of the Muslim nation-states in
dealing with environmental issues, and the virtual lack of any significant
grassroots environmental organizations in those countries, one may find it
strange that a Muslim should speak about this topic.